Prince Harry and family arrive back in UK: reports

Prince Harry and his family have arrived back in the United Kingdom days after it was revealed the Sussexes were relocating six years after quitting royal duties and moving to the United States.

The BBC and Sky News reported they had landed at Birmingham International Airport about noon after flying in from California privately on Wednesday

The family were said to have travelled on a Bombardier Global Express XRS luxury long-range business jet for the overnight flight.

Flight tracking websites showed a private charter flight from Van Nuys, California, arrived at the airport at 11.56am.

A spokesman for the duke and duchess declined to comment on their travel movements, citing the importance of privacy and security.

“This is not something we would comment on,” a spokesman said.

Despite the lack of clarity surrounding the couple’s return, the spokesman did however confirm that Harry and Meghan’s brood of chickens would be staying in Montecito to be cared for there but that they were bringing their dogs Mia and Pula with them.

The chickens have often appeared on Meghan’s Instagram account.

The private jet can fit up to 13 passengers and features a double bed, lounge and two bathrooms. The 10-hour flight was reported to have cost more than $160,000.

Last week, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, surprised even their close family when it was disclosed that they would move back from Montecito, California to somewhere outside London for what was described as an extended period of time.

Their children, seven-year-old Prince Archie and five-year-old Princess Lilibet, will start school in the UK next week.

Precise details about where they will be based or the school the children will attend are being kept private but the BBC reports the family will live the Cotswolds.

They will not be living in a royal residence or carrying out official duties.

The couple left for the US in 2020, stepping down from official royal duties to chart independent careers, but they never left the headlines as Harry accused the royals of neglect, the tabloid press of ruining his life and the government of failing to provide enough security for him to ever return home.

King Charles only found out about their return days before the decision became public, and the couple will remain non-working royals, as was agreed with the late Queen Elizabeth.

Harry and his father’s relationship has improved in recent months, with the Duke’s family visiting the UK last month, allowing Charles to see his grandchildren for the first time since 2022.

But Harry is still barely on speaking terms with his brother, the heir-to-the-throne Prince William.

The announcement of the couple’s return came a day before a London court ruling meant Harry could be liable to pay millions of dollars to the publisher of the Daily Mail after a failed privacy lawsuit.

Media reports have said Meghan is in talks about a return to acting, although neither her representatives nor those involved with the mooted TV drama have commented, and it was later reported the offer had been withdrawn because of a backlash.

Meanwhile Harry has always been clear he wants his children to spend more time in the UK and to see their grandfather, especially given the 77-year-old monarch is still undergoing treatment for cancer.

“It’s really worth remembering this might not be some terribly cynical move or some desperate move, it might be a very human move - ‘I want to be near my dad’,” a former senior royal aide said.